'Southern Charm' Star Kathryn Dennis' Co-Star Danni Baird Helps Fight Thomas Ravenel in Court
By Ryan Naumann on August 5, 2019 at 6:35 AM EDT
“Southern Charm” star Kathryn Dennis’ close friend and co-star Danni Baird is helping her out in the nasty custody battle with Thomas Ravenel.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Baird has filed a declaration under oath to defend her close friend against Ravenel’s accusations in their court battle over their two kids Kensie and Saint.
Ravenel recently accused Dennis of allowing their daughter Kensie to watch an episode of “Southern Charm,” which he saw her doing on social media. He said, “In the episode, Kathryn is featured crying about the criminal charges made against me, worry about being a 'single mom' and wondering how she was going to tell our children.”
He claimed to have texted Dennis saying he did not approve of their kids watching “Southern Charm.” He claims to want to protect his kids from the reality show and "the poisonous effect the reality TV industry has had on our lives."
The Blast
In newly filed docs, Baird told the court the story presented by Ravenel was not true. She claims to have been with Dennis and kids on the day in question. She says Dennis came over to her home and they were all playing with her dog.
She says, “This was on a Wednesday night when the latest episode of Southern Charm was on tv, but we weren’t watching it. We were just having a great time hanging out, playing with the dog, and playing games.”
Baird wrote, “We had been talking about how tired we were of people reaching out to us on social media about the status of our friendship since we had been fighting on the show the week before. We also knew that the episode airing that night has more scenes with us arguing, so we decided to make a short video for Kathryn’s Instagram story. In the video, we explain that everything is good between us and that we’re still great friends.”
Baird said, “You can see Kensie was in the background sitting besides me, but she was not watching the show. We only turned the tv on briefly to have it playing in the background of our Instagram story.”
The declaration finished with, “I’m sure Kensie wasn’t even paying attention to the show because she was so focused on our game of tic-tac-toe … I know that Kathryn does not allow either of her children to watch Southern Charm. In fact, whenever I’m at her house and the kids are there, the television is rarely even on.”
The declaration isn’t the first time Baird has helped Dennis in the custody battle. She submitted an affidavit in the case earlier this year, praising her co-star and close friend.
Baird wrote, “Based upon my personal observations, I can absolutely state that Kathryn is a wonderful mother to her children and enjoys every second she spends with her children.”
The declaration is all part of Dennis’ attempt to get primary custody of her kids with Ravenel.
Back in November 2018, Ravenel filed a lawsuit against Bravo and “Southern Charm” producers demanding a judge stop them from broadcasting unaired footage on the show.
Ravenel filed the docs as part of his custody battle with Dennis. She filed for primary custody of the children back in October. Dennis had her custody taken away in 2016 after failing a drug test but was awarded joint custody this year after completing rehab and staying clean.
In his suit against Bravo, Ravenel says the network and “Southern Charm” producers “encouraged” his ex to file for custody against him to create drama on the show.
He demanded Dennis not be awarded primary custody despite her request. Ravenel, who is about to be on trial for an alleged sexual assault in South Carolina, claimed he learned that Bravo and producers have unaired footage of his kids and ex talking about the legal battle and it was to be aired on the upcoming season. The reality star sued demanding a South Carolina judge prohibit the sensitive footage from airing on the show.
Ravenel would later file docs accusing Dennis of buying drugs from friends and show producers and even accused her of committing a hit-and-run.
She has accused Ravenel of dropping their kid into a pool while intoxicated, throwing a Christmas tree across a room and allegedly masturbating on her back while she slept (after she rejected his advance while pregnant).
The case has even dragged co-star Patricia Altschul into the case, with Ravenel set to depose her about his ex.
He recently accused Dennis of failing a recent drug test when it came back positive for marijuana. He is requesting the court to only allow Dennis to have supervised visitation with their two kids Kensie and Saint. Dennis has disputed the test and pointed out her hair test came back clean.
Dennis believes using CBD oil caused a positive test result.
A judge has yet to rule. He demanded sole custody of the two kids due to the test results.